Descrizione Music is a complex piece of information, although it is usually considered in its audible representation: many notations have been developed over the years and ages to represent visually the information needed by a performer to play the musical work and to produce music as intended by the author. With the spread of computer technology into the artistic fields, new application scenarios for computer-based applications of symbolic music representation have been identified. The integration of Symbolic Music Representation, SMR, in a versatile multimedia framework like MPEG will enable the development of a huge number of completely new applications in several domains of entertainment, edutainment, infotainment, etc., from education and distance learning, to rehearsal and musical practice at home, from consumer electronics like set-top boxes for interactive TV to personal computers and mobiles systems.